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IB Times – by Reissa Su

A security mission near the city of inner Samarra in Iraq has led to the arrest of the two relatives of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. A group from the Regiment Special Assignments has managed to detain the ISIS leader’s uncle Saleh Ibrahim Abdulmomen and the husband of al-Baghdadi’s niece Dhiya Nuori Sadoun.

Al Arabiya reports that Iraqi state television was told of the arrest by a security source from the southern Dhi Qar governorate’s police. The state-owned television channel had quoted an Iraqi government security official who confirmed the arrests of the two relatives known to be top-level ISIS commanders.   Continue reading “ISIS Top Commanders Related To Al-Baghdadi Captured; Western Fighters Join Christian Militia Against ISIS”

Bloomberg – by Asjylyn Loder

The U.S. drilling frenzy is over. What’s not is the boom in oil production.

While companies have idled 151 rigs in five shale formations since reaching a peak of 1,157 in October, they’ll need to park another 200 for growth to stall, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Output there will reach a record 5.47 million barrels a day in March even though the number of rigs exploring for oil is the lowest since 2013.   Continue reading “U.S. Rigs Are Being Idled, but the Oil Boom Is Not Ending”

ABC News – by HAMZA HENDAWI and MAGGIE MICHAEL

Security officials say Egyptian warplanes have staged a second wave of airstrikes against positions of the Islamic State group in neighboring Libya.

The officials said the warplanes struck on Monday in Darna, an extremist stronghold in eastern Libya. The first wave of airstrikes also targeted Darna.   Continue reading “Egypt Stages 2nd Wave of Airstrikes After Video of Killings”

Yahoo News

Jerusalem (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday urged European Jews to move to Israel after a Jewish man was killed in an attack outside Copenhagen’s main synagogue.

“Israel is your home. We are preparing and calling for the absorption of mass immigration from Europe,” Netanyahu said in a statement, repeating a similar call after attacks by jihadists in Paris last month when four Jews were among the dead.   Continue reading “Netanyahu urges Jews to move to Israel after Copenhagen attacks”

Reuters

Canadian Pacific Railway’s train engineers and conductors walked off the job on Sunday as a midnight deadline to reach agreement on a new contract passed, setting the stage for back-to-work legislation to be enacted by the government.

Canada’s No. 2 railway had reached a last-minute deal with another union, Unifor, which represents safety and maintenance workers minutes before the deadline.   Continue reading “CP Rail’s train engineers, conductors go on strike in Canada: union”

Voice of America

Danish police said a man they shot dead early Sunday was likely behind the two shooting attacks Saturday in Copenhagen that killed two civilians and wounded five police officers.

Officials said no evidence suggests other gunmen were involved in the shootings, one of which took place at a free-speech event at a cafe and the other outside Copenhagen’s main synagogue.   Continue reading “Danish Police Kill Suspect Believed Responsible for Deadly Attacks”

CS Monitor – by Patrik Jonsson

This week, lawmakers in New Hampshire, Kansas, Mississippi, and Montana advanced bills that, if made into law, would no longer require special permits to carry concealed weapons in public. Five states already have no concealed permit requirement – part of a broader trend toward so-called constitutional carry.

Also this week, Sen. John Cornyn (R) of Texas introduced federal legislation that would turn concealed weapons permits into something like state driver’s licenses, which are legal anywhere in the United States. The measure nearly passed a Democrat-controlled Senate last year, meaning it could well end up on President Obama’s desk in 2015.   Continue reading “Concealed carry without a permit: Will crime go up or down?”

Survival Scout – by Matt Redhawk, My Patriot Supply

If your body were a house, protein would be the nails and screws that hold it together.

And when a crisis hits your “house,” you need to weather the storm. The protein that keeps everything running smoothly today needs to be constantly replenished so your house will stand tomorrow.

Your body is constantly burning energy. Protein triggers the chemical reactions needed to keep your metabolism running smoothly. You need protein to properly support your body and protect it against viruses. You also need it to help regulate your insulin level.   Continue reading “Why Protein Is Important In Your Diet”

Washington Post – by Katie Zezima

PALO ALTO, Calif. – President Obama signed an executive order Friday that urges companies to share cybersecurity-threat information with one another and the federal government.

Obama signed the order, which is advisory in nature, at the first White House summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection at Stanford University here. The summit, which focused on public-private partnerships and consumer protection, is part of a recent White House push to focus on cybersecurity.   Continue reading “Obama signs executive order on sharing cybersecurity threat information”

USA Today – by Michael Winter

With lethal injection under review by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Utah House of Representatives on Friday approved legislation to resume executions by firing squad, which were halted in 2004.

The bill, which narrowly cleared the Republican-controlled chamber, faces uncertain prospects in the GOP-dominated Senate, and Republican Gov. Gary Herbert has not said whether he would sign it into law.   Continue reading “Utah House votes to resurrect firing squads”

Bloomberg – by Emily Greenhouse

On Friday afternoon, Gov. John Kitzhaber of Oregon resigned, and the Oregon secretary of state Kate Brown, also a Democrat, became the state governor. In an instant, Oregon had the first openly bisexual governor in American history.

For many of Gov. Brown’s constituents, this may mean little, because she is married to a man, and has been for many years. The adjective becomes easy to explain away, then; bisexuality is often dismissed as something made up, a risqué adolescent antic, something college girls do to impress boys. Last January, Lisa Diamond, a scholar of sexual orientation, told the reporter Michael Schulman that many people feel bisexuality “is a transitional stage or a form of being in the closet,” but that in fact it’s more common than strictly same-sex attraction.    Continue reading “Does It Matter That Oregon’s New Governor Is Bisexual?”

Oregon Live – by Laura Gunderson

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned effective next Wednesday, Feb. 18, in a letter submitted to Secretary of State Kate Brown.

“I am announcing today that I will resign as Governor of the State of Oregon,” he wrote in a statement released just after noon on Friday.

“It is not in my nature to walk away from a job I have undertaken – it is to stand and fight for the cause.  For that reason I apologize to all those people who gave of their faith, time, energy and resources to elect me to a fourth term last year and who have supported me over the past three decades. I promise you that I will continue to pursue our shared goals and our common cause in another venue.”   Continue reading “Governor John Kitzhaber announces his resignation”

Detroit Free Press – by Kathleen Gray

LANSING – A Senate Democrat faces an uphill battle in his quest to bring the death penalty to Michigan for people convicted of killing a police or correctional officer.

State Sen. Virgil Smith, D-Detroit, said he promised a constituent – James Bowens, father of Detroit Police Officer Matthew Bowens who was killed during a traffic stop in 2004 – that he would bring the issue up this year.   Continue reading “Michigan State senator pushes death penalty for cop killers”

ABC News

Members of a Connecticut commission reviewing the Newtown school shooting are sending their final recommendations to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, hoping their ideas for addressing school safety, gun violence and mental health will be heeded nationwide.

Friday marked the final meeting of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission, appointed two years ago by Malloy following the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School.   Continue reading “Panel Sends Newtown Report to Governor, Hopes It Has Impact”

AJC – by MARGERY A. BECK, AP

OMAHA, Neb. — TransCanada Corp. will temporarily suspend efforts to seize Nebraska land for its much-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline after landowners sued, in what is one obstacle the Canadian company still faces in the 1,179-mile project.

A Holt County District judge issued a temporary injunction Thursday, keeping TransCanada from invoking eminent domain along the proposed Keystone XL route in northern Nebraska while a lawsuit by landowners in that county plays out. TransCanada agreed to the order, hoping to get an accelerated trial schedule so that it can quickly resolve the legal disputes.   Continue reading “Company suspending efforts to acquire Nebraska land for Keystone Pipeline amid legal challenge”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

One week ago, when previewing what may be the first lockout of the West Coast Ports since 2002, we cited the Retail Industry Leaders Association who, realizing that failure to reach an agreement between the dockworker union and their bosses, the Pacific Maritime Association representing port management would lead to devastating consequences for the US retail industry, had several very damning soundbites:   Continue reading “The “Catastrophic Shutdown Of America’s Supply Chain” Begins: Stunning Photos Of West Coast Port Congestion”

Space War

The Obama administration announced creation of another federal intelligence center in the long list of law enforcement and spy services. This time its main task will be cyberintel.

The last year saw high-profile hacks into Sony Pictures, which set off a firestorm of controversy surrounding their film “The Interview.” But other security breaches, like cyberattacks on Home Depot, Target, and even the social media accounts of US Central Command, made President Obama to prioritize cybersecurity.   Continue reading “US Creates Cyber-CIA to Fight Hackers”

Fox News

BRUSSELS –  The International Monetary Fund has agreed with Ukraine on a new bailout deal worth $17.5 billion that could climb to around $40 billion over the next four years with help from other lenders like Europe and the U.S.

Ukraine has so far received $4.6 billion as part of a $17 billion aid package from the IMF agreed on last year, but that program has run into trouble as the war ravaging the country’s eastern region has weighed on its economic prospects.  Continue reading “IMF, Ukraine agree to $17.5B bailout deal”

ABC News – by Justin Pritchard

Seaports in major West Coast cities that normally are abuzz with the sound of commerce are falling unusually quiet.

Companies that operate marine terminals said they weren’t calling workers to unload ships Thursday that carry car parts, furniture, clothing, electronics — just about anything made in Asia and destined for U.S. consumers. Containers of U.S. exports won’t get loaded either.   Continue reading “West Coast seaports mostly shut down amid contract dispute”

Reuters – by PAVEL POLITYUK AND ELIZABETH PINEAU

The leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukrainehave agreed a deal to end fighting in eastern Ukraine, participants at the summit talks said on Thursday.

The deal reached after all-night negotiations in the Belarussian capital Minsk included a ceasefire that would come into effect on Feb. 15, followed by the withdrawal of heavy weapons.   Continue reading “Ceasefire agreed for eastern Ukraine after Minsk summit”